Life Like This:A John O'callaghan story
by Iamher
Summary: a story of that later influences some of John O'callaghan's compositions


**Anne**

So I don't really know when it all started. Everything's still pretty chaotic in my head. It actually hurts if you think about it enough, but for the sake of telling I'll try. Here we go I guess. The mind wrecking thoughts pretty much started when I woke up from this dream. In my dream there was me and my friends including the best of them, John. Like any other I didn't know how it started, or what series of things led up to the end, but all I remember was seeing myself walk a red carpet, littered with flower petals my vision blurred with a white veil and John waiting at the very end of the walk way. "Uhhmm.. what is going on?" I asked myself. "Holy shit is this a wedding?!" Second. By the time the preacher said "Friends and Family we are gathered here today.." I my eyes opened and my body was sitting upright, me heavy with breathing. What was that exactly? That was an extreme dream for such a calm day. I rubbed my face trying to wake myself up when the door opened. It was my mom.

"It's 10:30, you're already late for breakfast. Get cleaned up and head down straight to the garden for breakfast. Your father wants to make sure to speak to you before he leaves for work."

"Yes Mother." I said obviously not paying attention to what she was saying.

"Hey are you okay? You seem distracted." She said oozing with her motherly concern.

"Uhhmm.. nothing" I said turning my head from my sheets to her face. "I'm okay, Mom"

"Okay..." She said wearily "Just get down as soon as you can, and turn of your TV before bed! I could hear Rachel McAdams run to Ryan Gosling's arms all the way to our room." She said shutting the door.

Hmm.. maybe that was it. I was watching a romance movie, fell asleep then somehow it conjured up this weird dream. That happened before, you know when you fall asleep then you dream about the things you hear? Yeah that was probably it. I threw the covers off of me, pushed the switch of the TV then headed straight to my bathroom. After the long complicated process of "getting ready: the girl edition" I went straight to my closet and changed into the sundress that was hanging over the handle of the door. Into the mirror I brushed my hair and placed thin red ribbon on my head. When I admitted to myself that that's as good as it's ever gonna get, I grabbed wedges and ran down the stairs.

"Anne Clarrise Del Valle, where are your manners! Put your shoes on for heaven's sake, we are having breakfast, not going to an ACDC concert!"

"Mom calm down, I got it." I said as I slip the high heeled devils on my feet.

"There see?" I wrapped my arm around my mother's and started walking her towards our garden.

"Your father's worried about you you know. With the new school year starting and the business lessons going on." She started.

"Mom, he shouldn't be worried. It's high school, four best years of our lives remember?"

"You know him. He over think sometimes. Just promise you won't get in trouble okay?"

That moment we were out by the lawn, surrounded by flowers and lush green grass. The morning sun illuminated my mother's face that I may just have found out why my father married her.

"I promise, Mom" I said assuring her.

We we're half way to the far end of our yard where the pavilion was. It was already there when we moved here when I was little. It was tall and grand. It was like the Parthenon, like John described it, but with a round, dome shaped roof. At first it bothered me when I was little. It was like having a cathedral in your backyard, but my mom figured it could be a multipurpose area. It evolved from mom's flower nursery to dad's business gathering to John and I's fort. It is many things, but for today It is a breakfast nook. My father sat reading his usual newspaper, drinking his usual black coffee, sitting on his "throne". I kissed him on the cheeks and sat on the chair to his left.

"What took my majesties to long? The king almost starved to death" He asked.

"Your daughter had late night hangout with The Notebook and decided to delay her breakfast appointment with her parents" My mom answered.

"Okay Mom you can stop now and Dad I thought you're going to try to stop the royalty talk now. What happened?"

It was a thing with my family. The aristocrats, everyone called us. We did things more formally than other families would. There's a proper attire for certain times of the day, certain routines like tea time and Sunday restaurant dinners. It creeped everyone at first they thought we were crazy like the Dursley from Harry Potter. People actually made fun f me because of that. I met John though, he thought my way of living was weird yeah, but he was smart enough to understand it and decided to befriend me anyways. That was in 1st grade, we've been best friends since. John actually started the whole royalty talk. When he first slept over he sat in dad's chair (it was the head of the table) and Dad told him that that was his seat and John's was next to mine. He asked why that was and Dad said it was just the natural way people did it. Dad sits on the head of the table, his wife to his right and his kids on his left and so forth. "So like a king in those throne room things?" John screamed like a kid to his teacher. "Sort of" My dad said. Ever since that day John called my father the king of the house and often teased me of being Daddy's princess.

"I'm still trying, princess"

A familiar voice came from behind me after that.

"Still calling her princess huh?" I turned to see John's face grinning at me. I smiled at first but then gave him a pouting look. He came towards the seat parallel to my fathers, taking his hand and feathering my hair.

"Lighten up and eat Anne. We're just joking. Aren't we Mr. King?" John said

"You get to joke about it. I'm her dad, she pretty much doesn't have a choice" Me dad said back, laughing a little.

"You guys just watch, I'll get back at you." said giggling.

"You already have." He said with a smile.

I actually never understood that come back. It was a signature of his. It started when we we're about 10 years old I think. Every time I would say something threatening like "I'd kill you" or "I'll get back at you" he would always say "You already have." I stopped questioning it once I've lost count.


End file.
